Rusconi, Mauro, 1776-1849

Mauro Rusconi was an Italian embryologist who studied the development of amphibians and fishes.

Rusconi was born in Pavia and became a pupil of Spallanzani. In a famous paper, Del Proteo anguino di Laurenti (1819), Rusconi demonstrated that the olm (Proteus) is an adult animal and not a larval form that maintains gills during development. Some of Rusconi's other research concerned the reproduction of the salamander and the artificial insemination of fish. His most important embryological studies were on the development of the frog's egg, in which he observed and correctly interpreted the process of segmentation, the first divisions of the egg. The Institut de France gave Rusconi a gold medal for science in 1831.

Samuel Latham Mitchill was an American lawyer, politician, professor and physician with a strong interest in the sciences, especially chemistry, geology and natural history, including zoology and botany. His chief scientific contribution may have been as an organizer and promoter.

Mitchill was one of the first Americans to teach the new chemistry of Lavoisier, and he produced significant work on the classification of New York State fishes. He was the chief founder of the New York Lyceum of Natural History, and a member of many other societies.